Neil Alexander, the clean sheet king of Cardiff City’s 2003 play-off promotion success, returns to South Wales on Friday.
Edinburgh-born Alexander plays for Scottish Championship club Livingston, who take on the Bluebirds at Cardiff City Stadium (7pm).
Scotland international Alexander shone for Cardiff when they were promoted via the play-offs in 2003, beating Bristol City over two legs in the semi-finals and then Queens Park Rangers in the final at the Millennium Stadium.
He kept a clean sheet in all three matches and will always have a place in the hearts of City supporters.
Alexander, now aged 39, has returned to Livingston for a second spell after being released by Aberdeen. He did not play for the Dons after signing from Hearts in a predominately coaching capacity last summer, but impressed on trial at Livingston.
It’s 16 years since Alexander’s first spell at Livingston ended when he signed for Cardiff City in a £130,000 transfer and stayed six years.
Livi manager David Hopkin is delighted to have signed Alexander, saying: “I’ve been chasing Neil for close to two months now.
“He will be fantastic for us, of that I have no doubt.”
Alexander, who has three Scotland caps, joined Livingston in 1998 from Stenhousemuir and left for Cardiff three years later. He later had spells with Ipswich Town, Rangers and Crystal Palace before joining Hearts, making his final appearance in the Scottish Premiership in April 2016.
“He brings a wealth of experience to the team, having won league titles with Hearts and Rangers, with the added bonus of a European final during his time at Ibrox,” said Hopkin.
“Neil is an extremely fit individual who has looked after himself impeccably over the years and will be invaluable to our young squad this season.”
Alexander becomes Hopkin’s sixth signing for Livi’s return to Scotland’s second tier after winning League One.
Forward Dylan Mackin was previously with Motherwell, midfielders Scott Robinson and Ross Brown were both at East Fife, while striker Josh Peters played for Forfar Athletic.
Hearts striker Nikolay Todorov has rejoined Livi for a second loan spell.
Livingston are also set to include Scottish strikers Matthew Knox and Danny Mullen in his squad.
Both have attracted strong interest from Warnock and both were due to spend trial periods with the Bluebirds.
Knox, 17, was the subject of two failed bids of up to £100,000 from Rangers last summer and has also enjoyed spells on trial at Manchester United.
Mark Warburton was the Rangers manager when those transfer offers were made and he is now in charge at Nottingham Forest. Cardiff’s Championship rivals are watching the situation carefully along with a number of other clubs in the top two divisions.
He became the youngest player in Livi’s history when he made his debut in the 4-1 win over St Mirren on Boxing Day in 2015 – four days after his 16th birthday.
He made 12 appearances last season when Livingston secured promotion back to the Scottish Championship, winning the League One title.
Mullen came through the Livingston youth ranks and made his debut for the first-team in 2012 at the age of 17.
The 22-year-old scored 17 goals last season during the club’s title-winning campaign.
Knox, hailed as a Scotland Wonderkid by some journalists, has had three trial spells at Manchester United.
Warnock will hopefully be able to take a close look at both on Friday.
Cardiff City squad, probable v Livingston: Neil Etheridge (gk), Brian Murphy (gk), Lee Peltier, Sean Morrison, Joe Bennett, Bruno Manga, Sol Bamba, Jazz Richards, Greg Halford, Matty Kennedy, Aron Gunnarsson, Loic Damour, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Anthony Pilkington, Kadeem Harris, Lee Tomlin, Junior Hoilett, Joe Ralls, Kenneth Zohore, Danny Ward.
